Totozoquean is a proposed

language family A language family is a group of languages related through descent from a common ''ancestral language'' or ''parental language'', called the proto-language of that family. The term "family" reflects the tree model of language origination in hist ...

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area in southern North America and most of Central America. It extends from approximately central Mexico through Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and northern Costa Rica. W ...

, originally consisting of two well-established genetic groupings,

Totonacan The Totonacan languages (also known as Totonac–Tepehua languages) are a Language families, family of closely related languages spoken by approximately 290,000 Totonac (approx. 280,000) and Tepehua people, Tepehua (approx. 10,000) people in the ...

and Mixe–Zoque. The erstwhile isolate Chitimacha was later proposed to be a member. The closest relatives of Totozoquean may be the

Huavean languages Huave (also spelled Wabe) is a language isolate spoken by the indigenous Huave people on the Pacific coast of the Mexican state of Oaxaca. The language is spoken in four villages on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, in the southeast of the state, by a ...

Correspondences

Comparative proto-Totozoquean reconstructions are proposed in Brown et al. (2011) for simple consonants and vowels. The consonant-inventory for proto-Totozoquean is similar to that reconstructed for proto-Totonacan (Arana Osnaya 1953), and the vowels are not unlike those proposed for proto-Mixe–Zoquean (Wichmann 1995). A parallel set of laryngealized but otherwise identical proto-Totozoquean vowels is reconstructed for proto-Totozoquean to account for the distribution of laryngealized vowels in the Totonac branch of the Totonacan family, though these left no known trace in proto-Mixe–Zoquean (Wichmann 1995) and there may be a more economical explanation. Vowel length is likewise an independent parameter reconstructed for proto-Totozoquean that does not seem to affect the correspondences, but in this case it is a feature inherited by both families. Some Totozoquean lexical correspondences have also been proposed by Davletshin (2016).Давлетшин А.И
Гипотеза дальнего родства тепеуа-тотонакских, юто-астекских и михе-соке языков
XI традиционные чтения памяти С. А. Старостина, РГГУ, 24-25 марта 2016 г.

Vowels

Proto-Totozoquean (pTZ) is reconstructed with seven vowel qualities, all of which occur with long, laryngealized, and long laryngealized homologues. These reduce to a three-vowel system in proto-Totonacan (pT); length and laryngealization is retained. Proto-Mixe–Zoque (pMZ) loses laryngealization and neutralizes **ɨ~ə and **ɔ~o.

Consonants

Of the three consonants which do not appear in either daughter, **ty and **ny are poorly attested, whereas **ky is robust. Proto-Mixe–Zoque loses the laterals and gutturals, and neutralizes the alveolar–palato-alveolar distinction. Proto-Totonocan loses glottal stop and **y.

References

* 1953. Reconstrucción del protototonaco: Huastecos, totonacos y sus vecinos, ed. Ignacio Bernal. Revista Mexicana de Estudios Antropológicos 23:123–30. * , , , , and (2011). ''Totozoquean''. International Journal of American Linguistics 77, 323–372. * , , , , and (2011) "Linking proto-Totonacan and proto-Mixe–Zoquea

* (1995). The Relationship among the Mixe-Zoquean Languages of Mexico. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press. {{authority control Mesoamerican languages Indigenous languages of Central America Proposed language families

Correspondences

Vowels

Consonants

See also

References